Now It's Novartis's Turn in China

So reports FiercePharma, quoting a story in the 21st Century Business Herald and the Shanghai Daily. A former Novartis sales rep says that she was "ordered" to bribe doctors to meet sales quotas. As Tracy Staton at Fierce puts it: With Chinese authorities actively looking for any suggestion of corruption or bribery, we're likely to see more whistleblowers come forward and officials investigations follow. Though no one wants to admit it, payments to doctors and hospitals have been commonplace in China for years. The BBC reported this week that bribes are "routinely paid" by big drugmakers in China, citing 5 pharma reps working in China. One of those reps, however, said such payments are "rare," and "only very few people" get money from pharma. The government previously tolerated the practice--or encouraged it, even, by putting doctors on paltry salaries. Now, officials are targeting foreign drugmakers for it, perhaps to make examples of them, perhaps to twist their arms for lower prices. Probably both.
Source: In the Pipeline - Category: Chemists Tags: Business and Markets Source Type: blogs